Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam chief and actor Vijay pauses his speech after a stampede-like situation was witnessed during the rally, in Karur district, Tamil Nadu.
Credit: PTI Photo
Karur, Tamil Nadu: Actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) on Sunday moved the Madras High Court seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or a Special Investigation Team (STI) into the devastating stampede at a rally on Saturday evening.
The actor also announced a solatium of Rs 20 lakh each to families of those who lost their lives, even as the death toll from the incident rose to 40, even as the government seems to be dealing the issue with caution as it involves a massively popular actor like Vijay and is keen that he should not get any sympathy over the issue.
Chief Minister M K Stalin almost dismissed demands for the immediate arrest of the actor, saying any action will depend on the outcome of the one-man commission headed by retired justice Aruna Jagadeesan, even as questions on the role of his government in providing security for events lingers.
The government has also avoided naming Vijay and his close aide Aadhav Arjuna, son-in-law of lottery baron Santiago Martin, in the FIR, while including TVK’s Karur (north) district secretary Madhiazhagan, general secretary Bussy Anand, and joint general secretary C T R Nirmal Kumar.
They have been booked under Sections 105 (culpable homicide), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), and 125 (endangering life of others) of BNS.
While the entire political spectrum of Tamil Nadu from Chief Minister Stalin to Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami visited the Government Medical College Hospital to meet relatives of the victims and the injured, neither Vijay nor his party functionaries, including from Karur district, were conspicuous by their absence.
Sources told DH that the process of ascertaining the identity of the deceased and handing them over to the families has been completed, even as over 50 people are receiving treatment of which only two are said to be critical.
Vijay, who left this textile town to Chennai after the tragedy unfolded, posted a statement on his X page condoling the death and handing out an assurance that the TVK will stand behind the families who have lost their loved ones.
The DMK government headed by Stalin also came under all-round attack from Opposition parties which sought to know why adequate police protection was not given to the rally as Vijay has been drawing huge crowds in his previous public engagements. The parties also wanted the government to clarify whether police used mild force to bring the crowd under control which might have led to the stampede.
As the party came under severe criticism for its poor handling of crowds and its radio silence on Saturday’s incident, the TVK moved approached the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court seeking a CBI or SIT probe into the incident alleging possible conspiracy. “The petition will be taken up for hearing on Monday,” TVK leader Nirmal Kumar added.
Swinging into damage control exercise, the government-appointed one-man commission of justice (retired) Aruna Jagadeesan to probe into the incident began its work on Sunday. The government also fielded ADGP (Law and Order) Davidson Devasirvatham to rule out “intelligence failure” and “lapses” on the part of the police and blamed Vijay for coming late for the rally.
The top police officer said they deployed about 500 police personnel including three ADSPs, and four DSPs, on Saturday where as the deployment for Palaniswami’s road show at the same venue last week was just about 137. He also laid the blame for the stampede on TVK saying it is challenging to handle “tough crowd” even if 1,000 policemen are deployed.
Explaining the events that unfolded on Saturday evening, Devasirvatham said the police, sensing that the crowd was huge, asked organisers of the event to stop the vehicle at least 50 meters before the designated point.
“However, they insisted that they go further inside to the point where they had planned. For 10 minutes, the TVK leader didn’t come out of the bus making the crowd go restless,” he added.
A top government official said the TVK sought permission only for 10,000 people but mobilised about 25,000 people.
“The political party concerned didn’t make enough arrangements for people like drinking water. They didn’t follow the conditions laid down by the police as well. If they had expected more people to attend the rally, they should have told us so that we could arrange additional security,” the official told DH.
The official added that the organisers knew that the crowds in Karur would be high like Namakkal but didn’t take any precaution. “Namakkal was touch and go. His earlier tours were also the same. The organisers in fact sought permission for a much crowded and narrow place but the police gave them a better place,” he added.